This past spring, my family had a chance to visit the ocean in Florida. Having spent several years living in California, I have developed an appreciation for bodysurfing and playing in the waves. But when we were there, some of my nieces and nephews hadn’t really done that before.
As we entered the water, I gave the kids some pointers on how to stay safe. They were mostly worried about the waves, and how they might get knocked over. But I knew there was an even greater danger: the current beneath the surface. After a few minutes in the waves, we looked back at the shoreline, and I noticed we had shifted a good 50 to 100 feet down the beach. So we pulled a little closer together to stay safe, and after a short time, we returned to shore for rest.
In some ways, this time in the ocean was a great reminder of how we might experience the Christian faith. As I watched over the kids, I taught them what to look for, and how they could play as safely as possible. But if left by themselves, they could have been pulled further down the coast, or even worse, out to sea.
This experience reminded me about the biblical concept of repentance. This word is used often within churches, and we often use it to mean that we turn away from something. We “repent” of something bad, meaning we turn away from it. And while this is an important part of repentance, it doesn’t quite capture the whole story.
In the biblical text, there is a theme of turning away from evil when it comes to repentance, but it’s even more important what we turn to. In the Old Testament, the emphasis of repentance is a return to God. It’s like God is telling us “quit trying to do it your way, return to me.” And in the New Testament, the word means literally “to change one’s mind.” It’s an identity statement.
the current shifted while my nieces were in the waves and started pulling them out to sea, it would not be enough to simply turn away from the waves. Even if they turned the right way, the current was too strong for them to overcome on their own. They needed some help. They needed guidance from someone else, and if things had gotten worse, they might even need a rescue.
This is what the bible tells us about our relationship with Jesus. While we like to think we’re pretty sturdy and resilient, the challenges of this world can easily become too much for us to overcome. But when we repent, return to Christ, and our orientation is pointed back at him, we can return to shore and find a firm foundation. Jesus tells us, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
— The Rev. Mike Giesenhagen is pastor at Hutchinson Evangelical Free Church.
